


What Words Couldn't Say

by TGWrites



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Canon Compliant, Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Post-Episode: s02e08 The Blade of Marmora, Pre-Relationship, Shiro is 21
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-26
Updated: 2017-10-26
Packaged: 2019-01-23 09:11:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12503960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TGWrites/pseuds/TGWrites
Summary: On the flight back from the Blade of Marmora, Keith needs someone to lean on. That's new.





	What Words Couldn't Say

                “Sorry it’s kind of cramped in here - I understand if you’d rather be on your own for awhile.” Shiro was the first to break the silence, a long stretch of agonizing quiet that had lasted more or less since they left the Blade of Marmora.

                Keith frowned. Why was he the one apologizing? His presence wasn’t the one that was intruding. If anything, it was his own lying that’d almost gotten them both killed.

                “It’s fine.”

                Well, it wasn’t, fuck, none of this was fine.

                “I’ll shut up, if it helps. Really, you should try and get some rest.” A strain entered Shiro’s usually-unshakable voice. “You’ve been through a lot.”

                And he was probably right, but the stillness, the cold drone of space, would have been so much worse. When it got quiet, even for a second, everything would hit him at once, what he’d done, what he’d seen, who he was, shit! “I won’t be able to sleep. You can…” He winced, dragging himself up to sitting from his spot on the floor. “It’s better when there’s noise.”

                Shiro looked straight ahead wistfully. “I wish I had more to say, then.”

                If he was in any kind of mood for it, Keith would have smiled. For once, he almost wished Lance was here to lighten the mood, but quickly took it back. Not even in his thoughts did he want that to be put down as a fact. Hell, seeing him when they got back to the ship would be bad enough, when he inevitably found out he was part Galra, and wouldn’t stop talking about it. Keith didn't know which would be worse – being ostracized or being laughed about, and compared to either, the serenity of the black lion was nearly tolerable. It could have taken them 100 years to get back to the castle and it would still feel too short.

                “Hey,” Shiro called over, distracted. “I know we’ve been kind of skirting the issue since Voltron started... about us-” He cut himself off, and Keith was grateful. They’d had a connection, an undeniable connection that had changed during their months on the ship together, one that neither seemed ready to face; sometimes it was the only plus side to fighting a daily battle for their own existence. “-and it’s not a good time to talk about it now, obviously. Maybe it won’t ever really be a good time, but that’s how it goes, I guess.” Turning away from the dashboard, he looked back to Keith’s slender frame, at the strength it must take to stay alert through all of the pain still wracking him. “Just, I’m here for anything you need. I won't tell anyone, I'll give you as much space as you want, I- I don't know. I want to help as much as I can."

                "Thank you." The tiles felt just as cold and empty as the expanse of void they flew through, something Keith realized, for once, he didn’t like. He wanted something, some feeling he couldn’t quite place, and his first instinct was to pull away. Shiro was right in that being alone was where he felt the safest, the most sure, but there wasn't appeal in that anymore, not when it was no longer his only option. He dragged himself up to sit at the pilot's side, wishing it didn't feel so much better than the back hatch had. They were close enough so that he could hear Shiro's breaths, steady as even as a heartbeat, as he tried to match them, to feel as composed as his friend looked. The arm not piloting hung relaxed at his side, and Keith reached up slowly to grab it, to know that even though it was covered in the thick gauntlet of his paladin uniform, it was there. He was there.

              “I guess I’m not used to needing anything.” His voice softened. “Or anyone. ...You’re good at keeping people calm.” With little more than a twitch, Shiro’s finger stroked across his cheek, and Keith felt warm for one of the first times he could remember. There was so much to think about right now, too much to sort through and try to bring to coherance, that he didn’t even want to consider their connection. Never before had he had to put the feeling into tangible words and concepts and talk about them; it almost seemed to pale in comparison to how he felt.

                Keith squeezed his eyes shut, pressing the hand to his face as he clung to it like a life raft. “Can we, I don’t know… not talk about it first? Can we just figure things out, like, as they come? Right now, I just need-” It wasn’t easy to say out loud, that he needed to feel loved, needed to pretend that this was familiar or even comfortable, instead of one of the first times he’d ever reached out to him, to anyone.

                Thankfully, he didn’t have to say anything; Shiro understood. He tugged his arm back up, gesturing that they get closer, and even though Keith’s legs still shook like gel when he tried to stand on them, he only had to deal it with it for seconds before collapsing on Shiro’s lap. The pilot’s chair wasn’t quite designed for spacious comfort, so he’d had to swing his legs over the side, but the pilot adjusted his posture enough to give him a seat. Not that it ultimately mattered; he would have dealt with anything to be able to do this, to be closer to him than they’d ever been before, and that was terrifying to the paladin.

                It felt strange to be here, to trust someone enough that he could be weak around them, and it showed in the tension of his limbs.

                “This is okay, Keith, wanting this. You’re still hum-” He paused, realizing the error. “...Sorry.” Keith said nothing.

                The armor of his chest was little more than a hard plane, too rigid to feel him behind it, but Keith lay his head against it anyway, listening for the steady pace of his heart.

                Shiro’s arm, the one he’d been clinging to wrapped around him now, holding them tighter together. “You’ll get through this, I know you will.” He tucked Keith’s head under his chin.     “But for now, it’s… okay to be freaked out by everything. I would be, if it were me.”

                “But... you’re not now? I’m a fucking alien, Shiro, and the worst kind too! All I’ve ever wanted was to know who I am, and it turns out it's the shittiest thing I could possibly be!” He slammed his head against the chest plate as tears stung at his eyes.

                He refused to take his eyes off of the expanse in front of them. “Keith, I’m just relieved you’re alive. There were moments there where I really thought you might not... “ He could stay strong, for Keith’s sake, he told himself. Eyes ahead, Shirogane. “You’re the same person you were yesterday; you’re the same person you’ll be tomorrow. Nothing changes that unless you want it to.”

                Was it true? Keith knew he wouldn’t be able to tell for awhile. Right now, he only rolled his eyes. “So heroic.” But… not everyone was, and he knew he had to deal with that. “Try telling the rest of the team that. We can’t exactly form Voltron if they won’t even look at me.”

                “We’ll figure it out. They care about you more than you pretend, y’know. I care about you.” He didn’t follow it with I love you, not out loud, but his lips ghosting through the crown of Keith’s hair said it clearer than his words could. It was so unexpectedly soft, that Keith tensed up on instinct.

                “Sorry- I’m not used to that. It was... nice, though.”

                Shiro smiled. “I figure I probably should have done it earlier, at least before we each almost died once.” Keith’s laugh was dry. They both knew how the other one felt, but neither were good at this, at the talking about it part, and so they let the tension hang between them. Shiro nearly read his thoughts. “I know we haven’t really found the best time to figure it out, what with fighting for our lives and the whole universe, but I’m realizing there’s no guarantee we’ll get a good time, so…”  He paused at his passenger’s frozen expression. “This is new to me, sorry.”

                Letting his eyes fall shut, Keith smirked. “What, that you can be a hero and a person?”

                “I guess so. Did you know there’s more to life than trying not to die?” He pretended to sound shocked, and it was one of the first times since they’d left Earth that he’d made something resembling a joke.

                “I think I’m still learning that.” Whether sleep would come or not was still out of his hands, but it was at least a possibility now, compared to the distant illusion it had been just an hour ago. He slumped further against the expanse of Shiro’s chest.

                “Can you take the long way back to the castle?”

**Author's Note:**

> I honestly haven't watched Voltron since season 2, but in honor of Keith's birthday the other day, I figured I'd post this <3 I was a little hesitant to throw it up here, because there's some messiness surrounding them as a pairing, but they always have seemed to have the closest and most interesting bond on the team, and I've never imagined Shiro to be any older than 21 or 22 (definitely not 25??), and I hope their dynamic here comes off as balanced as I've always considered it :O  
> One day when I have time I'll watch the rest of the series, but I'm pretty sure I'll get really into it again and want to write a BUNCH of fic, and my list of YOI fic to write is miles long as it is... BUT ONE DAY


End file.
